# The most consistent television series **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824 "2018-07-30T18:50:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/81 "2018-08-02T21:15:48Z")
Call the Midwife ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/82 "2018-08-02T22:50:28Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > Call the Midwife Listen to me carefully. Log out of your computer and get yourself to a hospital. mmm ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/83 "2018-08-03T11:37:27Z")
Days of Our Lives. It put me to sleep when it first started, back in… umm, erm… well, it was on the same decade that “Dallas” was a big thing. And it still puts me to sleep instantly. . Given that we have reached 13 THOUSAND episodes…just what does this say about humanity? ---
**Author:** ![bmasters1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5e925/32.png) [@bmasters1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmasters1)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/84 "2018-08-03T12:39:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > _Barney Miller_ is a favorite series but I have to agree with Skywatcher on this one. When the series began, they split the show with half being set around Barney Miller’s home life and the other half being set at his job. It became clear that the job half of the show was much better than the home half and the home scenes got reduced and then eliminated. Which was a smart move-- the majority of the series (set around the station) has made Shout!'s all-in-one more than worth the money I paid for it! ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/85 "2018-08-04T12:32:37Z")
I can’t think of a series that didn’t have bad episodes, though some are more consistent. For instance, my absolute favorite series, “Faulty Towers” had two "bad episodes. And while they weren’t unwatchable they just didn’t feel right, and were out of place Those two would be the second episode where Mr Fawlty hires the Irish guy because he’s much cheaper and Mrs Fawlty goes off in an odd fashion, and the whole episode doesn’t feel right, compared to the rest. The second “off” episode is the one where Basil and Sybil fight on Sybil’s birthday and she runs off in a snit leaving Basil to explain why she isn’t there for her surprise birthday party. With Polly pretending to be Sybil and outside of Fawlty’s stubbornness, I see no reason, why Fawlty just didn’t say Sybil isn’t at home. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/86 "2018-08-04T13:52:39Z")
> [@Carryon](#): > > With Polly pretending to be Sybil and outside of Fawlty’s stubbornness, I see no reason, why Fawlty just didn’t say Sybil isn’t at home. It would have been completely out of character for him: Never tell the truth when a lie will do, especially in an embarrassing situation (Sybil walking out on him on her birthday, of all days)! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/87 "2018-08-04T13:56:15Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Plus, he was hiding in cupboards a couple decades before Randy did it in _A Christmas Story._ I think that was inspired by John-John Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/88 "2018-08-04T14:50:09Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I think that was inspired by John-John Kennedy. No, I was inspired by Carl Reiner’s son, I presume that means Rob Reiner as a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/89 "2018-08-04T15:36:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > No, I was inspired by Carl Reiner’s son, I presume that means Rob Reiner as a little kid. John-John did it too. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/90 "2018-08-04T16:41:42Z")
> [@FatOrangeCat](#): > > I can’t believe that no one has mentioned “The West Wing” The West Wing, for me, belongs in the Star Trek and Doctor Who category. The show has some amazing highs but it is wildly inconsistent. Remember Issac and Ishmael : > **[When good TV goes bad: how The West Wing went south](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/jul/03/when-good-tv-goes-bad-west-wing)** > > After three sublime seasons, writer Aaron Sorkin responded to 9/11 with an unusually clumsy standalone episode that knocked the whole show off balance ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/91 "2018-08-04T19:37:04Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > John-John did it too. I believe you, I’m just remembering an interview with Carl Reiner and the fact he had the bit in his failed pilot that starred him instead. This would have been before he was likely aware of John-John. Pilot was _Head of the Family_ [and filmed in 1960](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dick_Van_Dyke_Show#Head_of_the_Family_pilot). ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2018, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824/92 "2018-08-04T20:01:54Z")
IMHO “The Wire” had many missteps. Some are critical about the Fourth Estate season, but I thought it well done. I also found “Six Feet Under” pretty consistent. An aside: I cried for hours after watching the show’s finale, I think it’s the best all-time finale. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-consistent-television-series/818824.md?page=4)